Now this a Group Build I could not avoid participating in, in spite of the fact that I am incredibly poor at delivering anything, whether it is a group build or a "standard" build.

But, as this is me era of predilection, and I have been a proponent of the theme, the least I could do was to show my support and participate ...

I had to make choices in the (ever-extending) stash, and I went for the esoteric : a vac-formed model of a French racer and record plane : the Nieuport Sesquiplan

In the early 20s, this aircraft has beaten a number of speed records, in the hands of the famous (in his time) pilot Sadi Lecointe, and Georges Kirsch. It was the first aircraft to fly above 200 mph, on September 26th, 1921.

Highly streamlined, with Lamblin radiators ("lobster pots"), it was influential in its time and inspired other aircrafts looking for ever-higher speeds.

I fetched the 1/32 Air Craft vacform kit of this one on ebay some time ago, the kit dating back to 1996. Air Craft was a UK cottage industry producer, and I confess I do not know what they became.

First, the pic of the box :

And its content : three sheets of nicely done (female-molding) plastic parts, plus some white metal parts for the prop, the Lamblin lobster pots, the prop-boss and the tail skid. Not included in the pics are some Contrail streamlined struts. Finally, a detailed instruction sheet with drawings and explanations, and a mini decal sheet with the numbers for "6" , Lecointe's red-tailed aircraft, or Kirsch's blue-tailed "7".

The kit is of really high quality, the sheets having been formed in female molds, i.e. the plastic sheets have been "sucked-in" the molds (rather than formed over a postive master). Thus the details and surface are really sharp and neat, with great definition. The best among vac-form kits IMHO.

Vacforms, especially of this quality are less daunting than they look. The dreaded separation of the parts from the backing sheet is fairly straightforward, and does not take that long.

First, use a Sharpie pen with a flat head to draw along the countours of the parts :

Then, gently score with a knife along the perimeter of the part. Do not try to cut through the plastic : this would just risk cutting through the part. You can then snap the part from the backing sheet.

This is where the sharpie black line will help : the backing sheet apears as a thin white line, that needs to be sanded away. When you reach the black line, you have sanded enough !

Then starts a quick sanding on a wet-and-dry sandpaper sheet, (using circular motions to avoid oversanding some areas), like this :

In the case of the Sesquiplan, the half-fuselages are molded with a hefty "filling"for the top cowling and front of the fuselage, that you need to keep until the basic sanding is done. You can then cut it away, this time by scoring gently but repeatedly along the lines, to discard the unwanted plastic. The half-fuselahe then looks like this :

All in all, it has taken me less than 15 minutes to end up with the ready-to-use left half of the fuselage.

Wow! This is an oldie but goldie kit! Company founded in 1991 and closed in 1997. So this kit is at least 20 years old! Also looong OOP and gone by the wind. You are a lucky man with something like this in your stash

Have you got a copy of "The Speed Seekers"? I can check my copy once I get home this evening to see what detail it has. This is the most likely book I can think of to have some detail on this plane. I do recall a section covering the several examples of the Nieuport racers, and it looks like one is featured on the cover in Amazon's listing (USA listing). The book mostly covers just before the 30's, so it misses some of the colorful ones from that decade, but the early racers have some good detail.

That's the first time i see this kit. Very interesting project Hubert. ANd the aircraft looks damn beautiful ! It looks like a Scheider Trophy racer without floats !

However, i always thought a sesquiplane was a biplane where the lower wings were about half the surface of the upper wings. But this one seems to be a monoplane?

Edited by Zero77, 13 June 2016 - 07:14 PM.

Martinnfb likes this

Following the big Photobucket rip-off attempt, all my pictures on the forum cannot display anymore. I try to reupload the RFI pictures, but i'm not sure i'd have enough time and energy to reupload the pictures of the WIP threads. If you're interested in a specific subject and want me to reupload some pictures, just let me know.

Unfortunately, that Speed Seekers book has photos of lots of details that don't include the Nieuport interior. Most racers of the 20's are there, but then it stops and you need other references for the 30's and beyond. Still, it's an incredible reference.

No luck with French Wings #2, which covers the Ni.D 29 and 62 series. Lots of great side profiles and exterior photos, but no interior photos nor drawings.

Unfortunately, that Speed Seekers book has photos of lots of details that don't include the Nieuport interior. Most racers of the 20's are there, but then it stops and you need other references for the 30's and beyond. Still, it's an incredible reference.

No luck with French Wings #2, which covers the Ni.D 29 and 62 series. Lots of great side profiles and exterior photos, but no interior photos nor drawings.

Tnarg

This is frustrating isn't it ? My assumption that the Sesquiplan had the same IP layout that the NiD 29 still stands, but that does not mak me any richer for pics . From te NiD-29 profile drawings, it seems that the IP is actually two angled panels on the sides. This configuration is apparently still true in the NiD -120

Following the big Photobucket rip-off attempt, all my pictures on the forum cannot display anymore. I try to reupload the RFI pictures, but i'm not sure i'd have enough time and energy to reupload the pictures of the WIP threads. If you're interested in a specific subject and want me to reupload some pictures, just let me know.

Following the big Photobucket rip-off attempt, all my pictures on the forum cannot display anymore. I try to reupload the RFI pictures, but i'm not sure i'd have enough time and energy to reupload the pictures of the WIP threads. If you're interested in a specific subject and want me to reupload some pictures, just let me know.